Wednesday

This statue to the left depicts how I felt the past couple of days, while I waited for someone in management to manage our site.

By the way, this photo was taken in Juhu, one of the soundstage complexes for Bollywood films outside of Mumbai. Not far from it was a hand painted sign depicting a black jaguar and the warning "Don't wander off the set, as people have died here." So - if you're ever lucky enough to make a Bollywood film, these are the kinds of things you need to consider.

Meanwhile, we're back to celebrating the DIY filmmaker and the DIY film. We've got entries from all around the world. Documentary Filmmaker MIREL BRAN from Romania, won last year's winner for Securitate Hunter

has submitted two new documentary films. We've got entrants from as far away as New Zealand, Australia and South Africa.

We like to feature and promote filmmakers who create their own DIY experience - and we believe that everyone who has a story to tell and a camera, should be encouraged to pick it up and show and tell.

Here's a photo of a cappuccino made by a barrista in Santa Monica the other day. Looks like a golden laurel. An appropriate award for someone who puts all the effort into one small cappuccino - and yet, it's a work of art. You can find art anywhere if you only look for it. And the more we can encourage people to look for art in their own lives, a better place the planet will be.

Tuesday

Hi All, I'm in contact with the management at Withoutabox.com - which is a feat unto itself! Now that they're owned by IMDB which is owned by Amazon, it really is the one stop shop for the DIY filmmakers.

Just a note about DIY Distribution - if you're not aware of createspace.com - it's something to check into. You follow their fairly simple instructions and submit a DVD of your film which they digitize and can offer as streaming video. Of course it's up to you to advertise, promote, sell and otherwise wave the flag of your film high. But while you're waiting to sell it to a larger studio concern, your friends and family can purchase the DVD and have it on their tv in a day or two.

Create space is www.createspace.com - We contacted them here at the DIY Film Festival to see if they wanted to be listed as an Ad on our website - but they're not up and running in that area at the moment, still trying to manage content. But I can recommend their business model - it makes sense. Just make sure you own all the rights to the music, to the content, to the visuals etc from your film - and have all the permissions necessary before listing it. A fairly simple process - it's a way for DIY filmmakers to make money from their film while its in the festival circuit - and at a screening you can stand up and announce "Go to my web page if you want a copy!" and provide a link to your product.

Make sense? To sign up with Amazon.com to supply content, go to their Advantage Account. But if you sign up with CreateSpace.com and provide the content, they'll provide the package, and instantly offer the film as a streaming video - for whatever price you decide. Don't forget to thank us at Oscar time.

Long live the DIY Film movement!!!! (why the shots of Rome? Perche no?)

Monday

A glitch has appeared in the WithoutABox entry system... for some reason, they're listing as as "CLOSED FOR THE SEASON" - Apologies - we aren't closed for the Season - in fact we're trying to catalog the entries that have come in over the past two weeks, and as soon as we can RATTLE THEIR CAGE we shall have them listed. This happened last year as well, a temporary glitch - we hope. Hopefully in a day or two back to normal. So please, be patient, will post an update as soon as we're LIVE AGAIN!!!! Best, DIY Film Fest Team

Each Labor Day Weekend, the tiny town of Telluride, Colorado, triples in numbers. Swells of passionate film enthusiasts flood the town for four days of total cinematic immersion, embarking on a viewing odyssey, blissfully spending entire days in flickering dark rooms. With only an appreciation of celluloid to guide them, these devotees flock to the show, year after year. Why? Blind faith. The Telluride Film Festival doesn't reveal the program until everyone lands in town, yet attendees trust that a unique experience will unfold. The top-secret program features premieres, classics, seminars and discussions with the world's leading filmmakers and stars.

Le Carre, Clooney, Carnage contest Venice film prize

VENICE, Italy (Reuters) - The Venice film festival has largely lived up to its billing so far, providing a steady stream of A-list actors on the red carpet and a lineup of movies which has pleased most critics.

As the world's oldest film festival hits halfway Monday, an adaptation of John Le Carre's "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy," George Clooney's political thriller "The Ides of March" and Roman Polanski's comedy "Carnage" lead the charge for the coveted Golden Lion for best picture.

They are among 22 movies announced so far, soon to be joined by a 23rd "surprise" film unveiled Tuesday, vying for top prize, which is announced Saturday.

Although festival juries are notoriously difficult to second guess, an informal poll of critics published by trade magazine Variety puts Carnage marginally in the lead, but ratings have been generally strong.

Booing at the end of press screenings is common at film festivals, but there has been little this year, suggesting a happy ending to festival director Marco Mueller's term in charge.

Carnage is Polanski's adaptation of stage play "God of Carnage," and stars Kate Winslet, Jodie Foster, Christoph Waltz and John C. Reilly in a critique of bourgeois values set in real time in a single location.

Waltz's constant Blackberry interruptions, barbed exchanges between two New York couples and in particular Winslet's "vomit scene" had journalists laughing out loud.

Polanski would not be able to collect his prize should he win, facing extradition to the United States where he is still wanted for sentencing for a crime committed in 1977, but victory would be generally popular.

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, which premieres Monday, also emerged as a strong contender, with early reviews glowing for the melancholic adaptation of Le Carre's 1974 classic.

Gary Oldman takes on the central role of George Smiley, famously played by Alec Guinness in a television series, and Colin Firth and John Hurt also star.

"The big-screen version of John Le Carr's 1970s spookfest is hot favorite for the ... Golden Lion," said Jason Solomons, film critic for the Observer weekly.

"Just how Swedish director Tomas Alfredson got under the skin of British behavior so intuitively is remarkable."

NO SHAME IN "SHAME"

Clooney got the 11-day cinema showcase off to a strong, starry start with opening film The Ides of March, a thriller set in the world of American politics in which he, Ryan Gosling and Philip Seymour Hoffman appear.

And Steve McQueen, a British artist-turned-director, got what many consider the performance of the festival so far from Irish actor Michael Fassbender as a sex-obsessed New York professional in "Shame."

"Fassbender...might already have the Coppa Volpi (for best actor) in his pocket," wrote La Stampa daily.

Oldman also won praise for his nuanced portrayal of Smiley, and among female leads, Aggeliki Papoulia in Greek tragedy "Alps" and Keira Knightley in David Cronenberg's "A Dangerous Method" impressed.

Jennifer Hitchcock’s “Dreams Deferred: The Struggle for Peace and Justice in Israel and Palestine”

Ike Ahloe's "Clocked In"

Brian Paul Higgins “CURE FOR THE CRASH”

Nicholas Plagman’s “THE HAM SANDWICH THAT CHANGED THE WORLD”

Robin North & Kelly Preeper's "Dead Saints"

Mirel Bran’s “ONE-WAY ROUND TRIP” (Romania)

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The mother of all film festivals opens today in the Cote' D'azur. For DIY Filmmakers it may seem like a long way off - but fear not...

Be Good To Eddie Lee

Citizen Mayor trailer

Securitate Hunter

Bathing and the Single Girl

CALL FOR ENTRIES!!!!

CALL FOR ENTRIESThe International Film Festival Submission System

CALL FOR ENTRIES

The International Film Festival Submission System

The DIY Film Festival prefers paperless entries submitted via The International Film Festival Submission System (BrigitFest) – on the Web at Withoutabox.com. Withoutabox provides cost-saving, online entry to major film festivals throughout the U.S. and in Europe with one master entry form, allowing you and us to enter your film more quickly and with greater accuracy. This method is free and easy. Members who choose to join Withoutabox also get $5.00 off their Entry Fees, plus the advantages of Extended Deadlines and Online Press Kit submissions. Click over to Withoutabox, then follow instructions to apply online:CLICK HERE TO APPLY

2010 winning Animated short "The Magnitude of the Continental Divides" by Christopher Coleman

DIY FILM FESTIVAL NEWS archive

LOS ANGELES (Feb. 26, 2008)_ The engaging documentary "Buskers: For Love Or Money," an examination of the world of street performers as told by the talent, has been named Best Film of the 2008 DIY Film Festival, which concluded Saturday.

The film was screened at the American Film Institute as part of the 2008 DIY Convention, which took place Feb. 15-23 in Hollywood and honored the top independent films, music and books of the last year.

In "Buskers: For Love Or Money,” director Chad Taylor (himself a world-class street performer as a chainsaw juggler) gives the history and motivations of his fellow street performers, some well-known, others legends only in their particular square feet of concrete.

The depiction of the performers’ free-floating lifestyle, which combines talent, street savvy and psychology was shot over ten years in various parts of the world and features rare footage of some legendary street performances. For its introspective examination of a world many see but few understand, “Buskers” was unanimously acclaimed as Best Film by the DIY judges.

The other winners of the 2008 DIY Film Festival:

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: “Glue Boys,” Philip Hamer

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT: “The Tribe,” Tiffany Shlain

BEST DRAMATIC FEATURE: “Divergence,” Patrick J. Donnelly

BEST DRAMATIC SHORT: “Henchmen,” Christian Cantamessa

BEST COMEDY FEATURE: “The Book of Noah,” Drew Smith

BEST COMEDY SHORT: “Lowenstein’s A Terrorist,” Eric Siegelstein

BEST WORDL CINEMA: “Remember Me,” Benjamin Tan

BEST STUDENT FILM: “Some Apologies,” Adam Weldon

BEST ANIMATED SHORT: “Pull On Push Off,” Philip Leaman

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE: “Murderess,” Scott Coblio

BEST DIRECTOR: Todd Peters, “Let Others Suffer”

BEST SCRIPT: Adam Weldon, “Some Apologies

DIY Film Fest

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CALL FOR ENTRIES

The International Film Festival Submission System

The DIY Film Festival prefers paperless entries submitted via The International Film Festival Submission System (BrigitFest) – on the Web at Withoutabox.com. Withoutabox provides cost-saving, online entry to major film festivals throughout the U.S. and in Europe with one master entry form, allowing you and us to enter your film more quickly and with greater accuracy. This method is free and easy. Members who choose to join Withoutabox also get $5.00 off their Entry Fees, plus the advantages of Extended Deadlines and Online Press Kit submissions. Click over to Withoutabox, then follow instructions to apply online:CLICK HERE TO APPLY

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